Khamoshi – The Musical
made me cry my eyes out. Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam was just too well
made. Devdas is forever engraved in my memory as one of the most
powerful cinematic experiences of my life. Black was intriguing.
Saawariya magical. Then game the bleak period of Bhansali films with
what I felt was pretentious and half-baked Guzaarish and over-sexed
and nonsensical Ram Leela. With Bajirao Mastani the director with a
fetish for bling and drama returned to the path I would be happy to
follow as a viewer. Bajirao Mastani is a culmination of many dreams
and efforts, and certainly a story worth telling. Bhansali did not
create anyone´s biography or accurate historical epic. He captured
the parts of the real history that are etched in human memory as
legends and myths, those parts that we can understand in spite of the
ever growing time gap. Perhaps we no longer understand the politics,
that is a mere background setting for something much more intimate,
but we will always understand love.

Bhansali reaches for
inspiration to Mughal-E-Azam and does not try to hide it. The mirror
hall and the garden where Mastani performs her dances may as well be
those in which Madhubala as Anarkali twirled elegantly some sixty
years ago. And the theme of overwhelming, all-consuming love leading
to ruin and madness had always been something the director has been
into. The characters and the actors are well blended, the roles
wonderfully executed, yet the writing leaves space for improvement.
It is not difficult for me to believe Mastani loved used metaphors
and poetry often, but in the film every line from her lips is a
complex artistic composition with hidden meaning. That, I believe, is
why some people found Deepika Padukone lacking in perfection in the
role. In my view she was very, very good, but the writing made her
speech seem artificial.

Finally, Deepika is not the best actress in
India, yet for the role she was well suited. Convincing in fight
scenes (if only she had been in more!), subtle and dreamy when in
love, graceful (though not technically perfect) while dancing, with
fire in her eyes when confronted, she also possesses that certain air
of being the Ultimate woman in the story. It was not difficult for me
to see why would Bajirao forget the lovely, faithful and docile Kashi
for the fascinating Mastani who better matched his own personality. I
liked how Mastani strove to get what she wanted and believed to be
hers. But why did Mastani came to Bajirao´s home with only one
servant and did so little to let Bajirao know about her being present
at all? This bit made little sense to me.

Ranveer Singh washed away
all the excess oil from Ram Leela and Gunday (thank God), and gives
his best performance yet. The energy and force seem to surge through
him, there is a slight hint of arrogance and later his desperation
over the whole situation he created makes him both frightful and
pitiful. The interaction between the two leads is more mature in Ram
Leela, and even without crawling over each other in every moment
available they come off much more in love here. Few happy moments for
them would have been nice, but probably stretching the movie would
not have been a good idea. Priyanka Chopra as Chandramukhi
Kashi, the „other“ woman, is as fine as she can be. The hurt, the
disbelief, the denial, the acceptance and silent suffering,
everything is mirrored clearly in her expressions. From the
supporting cast Tanvi Azmi as Bajirao´s mother impressed me the
most.

I think my only major
complaints would be a) lack of Mastani action in the second half b)
non-memorable music with the exception of Deewani Mastani and c) the
lack of closure to the story. No matter how passionate and
overwhelming, the love affair of Bajirao and Mastani was not their
own matter and the whole mess it created encompassed many other
people. Even after the lovers die the story has loose ends and
Bhansali leaves them hanging without a thought. In the very least
what thereafter happened to Kashi and to Mastani´s child should have
been mentioned. In Devdas the abrupt end and fade to black felt
right, but even though the director was aiming for the same
escalation of the momentum here, with Bajirao putting the last of his
strength into a fight with demons only visible to him, the effect,
though felt, is not of the same level. And I also hoped Mastani
would die of something more palpable than a broken heart. Perhaps I
have grown old and cynical?

In the end I can only say
this is a movie I will certainly watch again. There are not many
films like that, certainly not in Bollywood. Mughal-E-Azam it´s not.
But deserving appreciation and some love it is.